- resurrection
- late 13c., from Anglo-Fr. resurrectiun, O.Fr. resurrection, from L.L. resurrectionem (nom. resurrectio) "a rising again from the dead," from pp. stem of L. resurgere "rise again" (see resurgent). Replaced O.E. æriste. Originally a Church festival commemorating Christ's rising from the dead; generalized sense of "revival" is from 1640s. Also used in M.E. of the rising again of the dead on the Last Day (c.1300). Resurrect is a 1772 back-formation. Resurrection pie (1869) was schoolboy slang for a pie made from leftovers of previous meals. Resurrectionist, euphemism for "grave-robber" is attested from 1776.